Forum: Subtitling
Topic: Should sing-song dialogue be in italics?
Poster: Ekaterina Verma
Post title: Italics for the Netflix Spanish subs
Dear Pilar,
I assume it is again for Spanish target, right?
According to Netflix guidelines for Spanish, both songs (with background music) and any recited poetry should be italicised, i.e. everything different from the normal spoken voice.
Not sure which guide applies for your case but here is the Castilian & Latin American one:
11. Italics
Italicize the following:
Works of art (e.g. sculptures, paintings), album, book, film, video games and program titles (use quotes for song titles).
Foreign words, unless they are proper names (e.g. a company name) or part of regular usage (e.g. sushi, pizza). This is not always in line with official regulatory recommendations. Thus, linguists should follow their best judgement, taking into account that italics should not interfere with legibility.
Dialogue that is heard through electronic media, such as a phone, television, or computer.
Only use italics when the speaker is not in the scene(s), not merely off screen or off camera. Additionally, italics are not needed for subtitle events that belong to a single continuous sentence, divided by a shot change, in which the speaker is not in the scene before the shot change, but is visible after the shot change.
Song lyrics (if rights have been granted).
Recited poetry.
Voice-overs.
Do not use italics to indicate emphasis on specific words.
[url removed]
So I guess the questions are whether there is any background music to it, how long is this sing-song going and whether it is one word or the whole sentence? This can allow you to qualify it for the part to be italicised.
Regards,
EK
Topic: Should sing-song dialogue be in italics?
Poster: Ekaterina Verma
Post title: Italics for the Netflix Spanish subs
Dear Pilar,
I assume it is again for Spanish target, right?
According to Netflix guidelines for Spanish, both songs (with background music) and any recited poetry should be italicised, i.e. everything different from the normal spoken voice.
Not sure which guide applies for your case but here is the Castilian & Latin American one:
11. Italics
Italicize the following:
Works of art (e.g. sculptures, paintings), album, book, film, video games and program titles (use quotes for song titles).
Foreign words, unless they are proper names (e.g. a company name) or part of regular usage (e.g. sushi, pizza). This is not always in line with official regulatory recommendations. Thus, linguists should follow their best judgement, taking into account that italics should not interfere with legibility.
Dialogue that is heard through electronic media, such as a phone, television, or computer.
Only use italics when the speaker is not in the scene(s), not merely off screen or off camera. Additionally, italics are not needed for subtitle events that belong to a single continuous sentence, divided by a shot change, in which the speaker is not in the scene before the shot change, but is visible after the shot change.
Song lyrics (if rights have been granted).
Recited poetry.
Voice-overs.
Do not use italics to indicate emphasis on specific words.
[url removed]
So I guess the questions are whether there is any background music to it, how long is this sing-song going and whether it is one word or the whole sentence? This can allow you to qualify it for the part to be italicised.
Regards,
EK